These days, early November 2024, I am in Buenos Aires, in cleaning mode, regarding checking various documentation, notes and so on, in order to lighten all the personal paperwork that I have at home and that I must have ready and expedited for when I have to start packing and moving to the new destination that awaits me in Bogotá-Colombia, together with Jessica and my youngest daughter.
Among all the documentation, I found notes from a seminar given at the PAD School of Management – University of Piura, which I attended via Zoom in the middle of the pandemic (July 2020), where the IESE professor, Santiago Álvarez de Mon invited us to reflect on: What is success? Who defines it? What are the evaluation criteria?
What questions, don’t you think? And since every non-mathematical problem doesn’t have a unique answer, they will depend on how we face the life that each one of us has to live, on the priorities that we have, among many things.
In my case, thanks to GOD and my parents, I can say that I have discovered that I am successful, and I say this with humility (understanding that this is associated with walking in the truth). I will share with you, briefly, my success.
I was fortunate to study all my school years, in my beloved Chiclayo, in a school of Spanish priests, which combined science, art, sports and religion. As a result of that, I have my first brothers that life gave me, some of them lived very close to my house and for that reason, in addition to school, we shared a “gang” or “gang” with whom I still talk about trivial and transcendent things.
The fate of life led me to study business administration in the capital, at a university (I must admit that it was not the one I wanted), however, it was there that I added more siblings to my life, whom I love and value. I am the godfather of the son of one of them and just today, another one wrote to me: Saldaña…, hello, how nice! I see him right now, for the girls everything! And it is that my second daughter finishes her school years, here in Buenos Aires and wants to share the moment of her graduation with the whole family of “Chizo”, the brother that I added during my university years.
The good fortune of being in that university, which was not the one I wanted, gave me the gift of knowing love through Jessica, and we got married 26 years ago, we pilgrimaged together in valleys and mountains (with difficulties, sadness, tears and obviously also joys), we have three daughters, who have their things, of course, but as the priest (Pancho) of the church near the house told me the other day: Go on, they are excellent girls!
The paths of the professional stage, led me to work mainly in human management in national and international companies in various sectors such as mass consumption, automotive, banking and retail. I have met excellent people and professionals, bosses and colleagues who later became very good friends.
I had the opportunity to study an MBA, at the PAD School of Management – University of Piura in Lima at 40 years old. Thus, I refreshed my knowledge with excellent professors, and again I had the opportunity to have more friends and even add three new siblings to my extended family. How many anecdotes and experiences I have with them and their families.
Today I work with my brothers, in the family business that Jorge, the eldest, started 22 years ago. This experience has its pros and cons, but if I have to sum it up in one line: “it has taught me that family is above business.”
In these last few months in Buenos Aires, I have been able to take three courses at the IAE Business School – Universidad Austral, within the PWC course on Organizational Governance, courses associated with creating value from the boards of directors. This has allowed me the good fortune of meeting excellent professors, great people, family businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals, and from each of them, without a doubt, I have learned something new.
As a corollary, a not minor issue, is that thanks to GOD I was lucky enough to meet several married couples in the Catholic group Familia de Nazareth, special mention to the Llerenas, Jimenez and De la Flor (spiritual compadres, the latter) who were and are always there in good times, but especially in not so good times, to be a light in the middle of life.
Yes, you have reached these lines, you could say: this guy has told me almost his entire life! And I consider this statement to be correct, from one perspective. This gives me the opportunity to answer the questions asked 4 years ago by Professor Álvarez de Mon, the same ones I mention in the second paragraph of this article.
Success is spending most of your time or life at Peace, firstly with GOD, with yourself and with your environment (neighbor).
The definition of success depends on each person. Not on what other people say or think. That the day you are no longer in this world, will people remember you? May it be for what you gave them (advice, a listening ear, a smile, a hug, a shoulder to rest on, etc.)
At this point in the article you might think as my friends here in Argentina say: you are great, big, boss, the best… But the truth is, nothing could be further from the truth.
Because success is the consequence of continuous learning and exercise of Love. Understood as giving, forgiving and asking for forgiveness. This applied in all areas of my personal, family and work life.
To finish, I am convinced that to be successful in life, in the broadest sense of its meaning, we must all work permanently (and I in the first place), to really know ourselves…
Who am I?
Know what our strengths and weaknesses are.
Seek help (psychological and/or spiritual) to mitigate our weaknesses and increase our strengths, the latter, if the term is valid.
To finish, I share with you two phrases to reflect on.
“Do what you can, ask for what you cannot and God will give you so that you can,” Saint Augustine.
“Walk slowly, do not hurry, because what you have to get to is yourself,” Ortega y Gasset
Cheer up… if we can be successful! Let us continue rowing against the current…
